Greatest Nine

Kanzen Chūkei Pro Yakyū Greatest Nine was developed by Sega CS Research and Development No. 1. The project was led by graphic designer Takaya Segawa. He was new to the company and had only just completed his first game, Dr.

Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, in his second year there. Future Nippon Professional Baseball player Masahide Kobayashi (then in school at Nippon Sport Science University) was used for the game's motion capture. Greatest Nine launched for the Saturn in Japan on May 26, 1994. A modified version of the game with players from the Major League Baseball was released internationally later that year.

Next Generation rated it four stars out of five, and stated that "In the end, minus a few malfunctioning control features that Sega US promises to fix, Greatest Nine is an excellent sports title for the Saturn and an extremely encouraging sign of what's to come."

Greatest Nine quickly became a franchise for Sega. Counting the original game, six entries were released for the Sega Saturn between 1995 and 1998. It was later revived in 2002 on the Game Boy Advance (GBA). This version was developed by Smilebit (absorbed by Sega in 2004), also responsible for Motto Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou!.

The 1996 sequel, Greatest Nine '96, was released for the Sega Saturn in Japan on 19 July 1996. Licensed by Nippon Professional Baseball, the game featured all 12 teams from Japan's Central and Pacific Leagues, with updated player data. One of its principal improvements was the replacement of the original game's four fictional stadiums with 11 real-world Japanese baseball stadiums.